FSD: I hear you’re opening a restaurant in Chicago soon. Tell me about that?
ZMoney: Yeah, it’s not too far from Wicker Park. I’m naming it Emma’s after my grandma because I love her food more than anybody else’s. Actually, the restaurant move was happening before I even started rapping. I just wanted to keep business in my life at all times. I own a few buildings as well. I’m a business man before anything.
FSD: Your song, “Want My Money,” is about a year old now. Did you think it would be as big as it is when you first recorded it?
ZMoney: Nah, and when I started recording, I was only joking. That was my first time using auto-tune.
FSD: Really?
ZMoney: Yeah, I was just bullshitting. I went in the booth and started singing “these bitches want my money” [laughs.] Then I told the producer to delete that shit. He said “Nah that shit raw,” so we stuck with it. I never put any money behind that song either. Actually, none of my songs had money spent on promoting them. I never pushed my shit on people. I think “Want My Money” is still big because it’s still new to a lot of people. There are people in Chicago who still haven’t heard that song.
FSD: How did it feel to have Chance The Rapper use “Want My Money” as a trailer for his project, Acid Rap?
ZMoney: That was love. Shouts to Chance for that too, man. He ain’t have to do that for me, but just by him being a real dude he did. When he did that, he sent me some people who had never heard of me. So he’s just a real dude overall for that. People who would never listen to ZMoney will do it now because of what Chance did. Shit was nice.
FSD: What separates you from most rappers coming up in Chicago right now?
ZMoney: I’m totally different from most rappers coming out the city right now. First off, I’m not lying in my raps. Next, my whole swag and my whole everything is different. I can’t give specifics, but you’ll notice it when you get around me. Then I feel like I make the type of music that I like, I’m not doing it to get attention. I’m basically telling true life stories when I get in the studio.
FSD: There are very few rappers coming up from the Westside of Chicago, do you feel like you’re bringing it back?
ZMoney: Of course. Right now, I’m the face of the Westside. It’s been years since someone like me has come out from the Westside. I feel like the face of Chicago too, in the aspect of young niggas getting money.
FSD: So next up you’re dropping three mixtapes in one day, tell me a little bit about that?
ZMoney: Each tape will have a different message and feel to it. Not too many people can pull it off like I can. I got different styles and everything this time. On one of the tapes I’ll be reaching out to the pop crowd. I’m just making shit people won’t get bored with.
FSD: What’s next for you?
ZMoney: These three tapes in 2014. When that shit drops, it will be global because nobody is doing it. I ain’t gone stop working after that. I basically live in the studio.